Camallanus worm - HELP!!!

[pistol_pete]

I have camallanus worms in my 37 gallon tank. It took me a long time to figure it out but I’m convinced they have it (I’ve suspected it for a week). A rainbow died today (the most affected one) and when I took her out, I could see something right at the surface of her butt but it disappeared back inside as soon as I came close to it. Her rectum was irritated and very dilated so I put her in a ziplock bag to see what would come out of her. After about 20 minutes, I could see a bunch of small red worms (the thickness of a sewing thread, or less) wiggling half out of her butt. After a few hours, they were completely out. There is about 6 to 8 of them so far. How do I treat this? It seems that Levamisole is only available through a vet prescription in Canada but none of the vets I called care to deal with my situation. I’ve been referred around but no help. What should I do? Even if I kill off all the fish, how do I get rid of the larva on things like driftwood, branches, lava rock and tufa rock? I can sterilize the tank, gravel and filter but not the rest. Help please!!!
PS: I have pictures if anybody wants to see.

[blainep]

PM Member Mykiss, he has an effective remedy for these worms.

Really good guy to deal with, he'll treat you well !

[James]

Pete
This link is about the worms, and gives a treatment for them.

http://www.petfish.net/kb/entry/154/

The product he used is availble in BC, although hard to find. Fenbendazole in powder/crushed form. The brand name it goes under is Panacur.

You can soak everything including the rocks in bleach, that would kill the lava. If you do that, remember to soak in clean water several times to make sure all the bleach is gone. If you can smell bleach on something, its not all gone.

Good luck

[pistol_pete]

If I was to have to use bleach, do I use it pure or do I dilute it with water and at what ratio? Also, can I use it on driftwood and sunken branches? I’m hoping the meds help and I don’t have to go this route but I want to be prepared.

[Melody]

Member 'Mykiss' has Levamisole and he ships, send him a PM and he'll fix you (& your fish) right up. Good luck!

Experiences with Callamanus worms and Solutions (http://www.canadianaquariumconnection.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3322)

Yes, bleach should be very diluted or it will eat the silicone off your tanks. A capful will disinfect a child's swimming pool, so it doesn't take much. You can use it on everything, but rinse it very well and use a heavy dose of dechlorinator in the last rinse.

[mykiss]

Thanks guys. All taken care of :wink:

[pistol_pete]

Starting treatment. I will post the results.
Thanks to all who helped and gave advice.

[Melody]

Best of luck & I'll look forward to the GOOD news!

[Lovemyfish]

Hi all,

I am new to the forum and my poor guppies are infected with camallanus worms. I had three pregnant females and one male. They all gave birth during the past few weeks and now since I have a bunch of babies, I am even more worried about these nasty buggers! One of my females has alreadyn died and the other 2 seem to be infected pretty badly. The male doesn't seem to be infected yet...or he is, but I just can't tell.

As I am in Canada, like the rest of you I am not sure where I can get treatment for these worms. I don't know that one person can send treatment, but I'm not sure how to send him/her a message. I would really appreciate any help or suggestions on what to do. I'm in Ontario. Thanks!

[CACAdmin]

Hi and :Welcome: Sorry to hear of your troubles. As your account had not yet received final approval when you posted, you did not have access to Private Messaging. Your account has now been approved and you have full access to all member privileges. This will enable to to contact Member 'Mykiss' regarding Levamisole if that is what you're looking for.

Best of luck dealing with the camallanus worms. Let us know how things go.

[chlidfreak]

Hello. I started searching the net for whatever were these red strings coming out of my biotodoma wavrinii and finally found it on this forum. I have been consistently losing several dwarf cichlids for the past few months and I coundn't find a reason why. They did start becoming emaciated about 3 months after being in my tank but they never displayed the worms in their anus so I never suspected camallanus. I was searching for something that afflicted only dwarf cichlids since I had other cichlids in my tank and they never had any problems. That was until I saw it coming out of my wavrinii. I'm also in Ontario and I asked our local Big Al's regadring levamisole and they had no idea what it was. Can I get help as well?

THANKS!!

[CACAdmin]

Hi and :Welcome: Sorry to hear that you too have a problem with Camallanus worms. If you cannot locate Levamisole, you'll see that earlier in the thread, James mentioned the use of Fenbendazole in powder/crushed form. If you want Levamisole and are unable to locate it, try contacting member 'Mykiss' about getting some.

Best of luck getting rid of the worms!

[Edgezilla]

I have extra levamisole sitting around since I didn't have to use them. Give me a PM if you need them.

[Valkyrie]

Hey Everyone,

I am also new to this site, as a matter of fact I joined because of my camallanus infestation. So I can't PM Mykiss.
I have been trying to fight this infestation for a few months, only realizing what it was a couple of weeks ago, and I am exhausted. I lost all of my guppies and platies (including my beloved babies </3 ) and I don't want to lose the rest. I'm currently treating with Jungle medicated food (not quite through the second week) and Jungle parasite fizz tabs. API General Cure did nothing, but I don't think it was meant for internal parasites. I can't find Panacur or Levamisole anywhere.
Can anyone give me any advice? I also have loaches so I have to be careful what I use.

[CACAdmin]

Hi Valkyrie and Welcome to CAC. So sorry to hear of your troubles and about the fish you have lost. Your account has now been approved and you are a fully fledged member and so can now send and receive PM's (which will allow you to contact mykiss). Also, depending upon how much Levamisole you want/need, there is some available here (http://www.canadianaquariumconnection.com/ClassAuction/index.php?a=2&b=2641)on the CAC Auction.

As for advice, I'll leave that to those in-the-know as luckily I've never had to treat for camallanus worms. Best of luck in getting the problem resolved.

[Valkyrie]

Thank you! I'll PM mykiss. I checked the auction, but since I only have a 10 g tank I think that would be waaaay too much lol.

[mykiss]

Thank you! I'll PM mykiss. I checked the auction, but since I only have a 10 g tank I think that would be waaaay too much lol.

Connected, thanks :wink:

[mdfa.ca]

Hi Valkyrie,

Welcome to the forum though I am sorry it was under such bad circumstances. Unfortunately the only way to get rid of camallanus is with levamisole. You are probably wasting your time with anything else. Wish I still had some but I just recently sold my left overs to a young hobbyist on another (local) forum.

There is lots of good information here so just do a search for camallanus and you should get some good hits.

Btw, LOVE your furry, feathery and scaly crew!:laugh:

[Valkyrie]

Hi Valkyrie,

Welcome to the forum though I am sorry it was under such bad circumstances. Unfortunately the only way to get rid of camallanus is with levamisole. You are probably wasting your time with anything else. Wish I still had some but I just recently sold my left overs to a young hobbyist on another (local) forum.

There is lots of good information here so just do a search for camallanus and you should get some good hits.

Btw, LOVE your furry, feathery and scaly crew!:laugh:

I've learned that lol. But my corys and loaches are loving the medicated food and so far they have no signs of the worms so I'm still using it for that. I've already contacted mykiss and am purchasing some levamisole off of him (thankfully). But thank you for the advice! :Smile:

[Valkyrie]

Hey Everyone!

It's been months since my own callamanus epidemic (thankfully!) but I thought I'd come back to this thread and warn everyone about where I contracted it.
I contracted it from the Petsmart in Abbotsford, BC (the only place I used to buy fish) and when I diagnosed it and treated my tanks, I told the aquarium department what they were infected with it and how to treat it. They were very thankful and told me that they were changing distributors because of their losses and the quality. I was in the store the other day and am quite sad to announce that their guppies are still infected with it.
I don't normally like to do this, but I don't want anyone else getting this nasty parasite in their tank. They are still very helpful for questions and supplies though! :D It is a little sad how much money I blow in there! XD

[mdfa.ca]

That is sad to know that the store, after being told of the infections, is still selling sick fish.

[moose113]

Just wanted to let everyone know that I have ordered from this place:

http://www.igopro-online.com/

for levimisole. They are located in the US, and will ship to Canada. It's not very expensive and it came through the mail without a hitch. Just in case you want to order some to have on hand.

[mdfa.ca]

Thanks, Moose. That's good to know. I "sold" my last batch to a kid who never paid for it and lost my original source's info. It's good to have another source.

[moose113]

mdfa, it looks like you're about 20 mins away from me. I do have some on hand so if you need some, you're welcome to contact me and I'll give you some.

[mdfa.ca]

THanks agian, Moose! You are very kind and I will sure make make a note of your offer. Hopefully I will never need it again :laugh:.